Women in Clinical Trials
When new drugs or medical procedures are ready to be tested on human subjects, researchers find volunteers for clinical trials. However, far more men than women are used as subjects during these trials.
It was widely assumed for many years that women and men would respond to medication in the same way. Therefore, it did not seem to matter whether men or women were participating in clinical trials. Because of this, researchers mostly drew from pools of male volunteers because they were perceived to be more low-risk (and accordingly, less expensive to include in a trial). Women who are pregnant, nursing, post-menopausal or even simply of childbearing age are considered too "risky" to participate in clinical trials. These parameters essentially eliminate all women. However, it is difficult to determine whether this decision to eliminate women was made out of beneficence or paternalism.
The main problem with this gender discrepancy is that men and women are physiologically different. Their bodies process medications and respond to treatments differently. The over representation of men in clinical trials has impeded the progress of understanding how new medications will affect women.
Question: What is the best summary of the passage?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This answer choice sums up the entire passage by including all of the key ideas discussed.
Scientists used to think that men and women would respond to medications in the same way. Because of this, they didn't really think it mattered whether men or women participated in the trials. This answer choice only describes the mindset of scientists in the past. It doesn't mention that men and women might respond differently to a given drug.
Men are used far more often in clinical trials of new drugs and medical procedures than women are. This can cause serious problems because some drugs that are useful for men might cause severe problems for women. The author does not state that some drugs that are useful for men might cause severe problems for women. The author only states that men and women "may respond to treatments differently."
Because it didn't seem to matter whether men or women were used in clinical trials, researchers mostly drew from pools of men because men suffered fewer adverse effects of treatment than women contains false information. The author does not state or imply that men suffered fewer adverse effects of treatment than women.